Lusia Films

Documentary about Jean-Luc Godard filming Sympathy for the Devil with The Rolling Stones.

Provocative, feminist critique of man’s technological progress.

Shot in 1983–84 and focusing on the work of the Historical Institute, this film witnesses how Nicaraguans are recovering their history, the memory of Sandino’s struggle, to transform their sense of identity.

Through the eyes of journalists and photographers working at Barricada, the official publication of the FSLN, the film observes the problems of putting socialism into practice, with reports on the war, the economy, the prison system and the political process leading up to the 1984 elections.

Composed of stills by renowned Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas taken in 1978 and 1979 during the overthrow of the fifty-year dictatorship of the Somoza family. Written in the form of a letter from Meiselas to Karlin, it is a ruminative and often profound exploration of the ethics of witnessing, the responsibilities of war photography and the politics of the still image.

“The Nightcleaners” is set in the context of the campaign (1970-1972) to unionize the women who cleaned office blocks at night and were being victimized and underpaid. Intending at the outset to make a campaign film, the Collective was forced to turn to new forms in order to represent the forces at work between the cleaners, the Cleaner's Action Group and the Unions - and the complex nature of the campaign itself.

A portrait of a remote area in the rural north of Nicaragua facing difficulties with the revolutionary process. It follows Marlon Stuart, the regional FSLN political organiser, at the time of the 1984 elections.

In a society, which labels lesbians as masculine, man-hating and less than female, how are lesbians who choose to have children treated? This excellent film gives a voice to a variety of women from varying ages, races and class backgrounds. Some of the women were lesbians when they decided to have children; others became lesbians after being involved in heterosexual relationships. As lesbian mothers they all have to learn to cope with living in a hostile society, with the ever-present possibility of losing their children - if they still have them - their lovers, or their work. Breaking the Silence offers an engaging and compelling picture of an area of female existence which, for many, has had to remain hidden for fear of losing their children. From those who have been brave enough to speak out in this film what emerges is a voice of strength and courage in the face of outrageous bigotry.